The health inspectorate has initiated misdemeanor proceedings against the Sveti Duh Hospital in Zagreb and its director Ana-Marija Simundic for "violating the rights" of Mirela Cavajda, who was "denied information when deciding on her request for an abortion," state agency Hina said on Thursday, citing unnamed officials from the Health Ministry. Pročitaj više

“Considering that the inspection revealed omissions of non-compliance with the provisions of the law on the protection of patients’ rights and the right to full information, the health inspectorate has initiated misdemeanour proceedings before the competent court,” the Ministry told Hina.

“The health inspectorate determined that the hospital’s first-instance commission decided on Mirela Cavajda’s request to terminate the pregnancy on 3 May this year, but did not submit its decision to the patient. The patient was also not informed that she had the right to appeal to a second-instance commission at the KBZ Zagreb hospital. The inspection found that this violated the law on Patients’ Rights, which stipulates that ‘patients have the right to be fully informed about actions taken while providing health care.'”

The violation carries a 10,000 kuna to 50,000 kuna (€1,300-6,600) fine for the hospital, and a fine of 5,000 to 10,000 kuna (€660-1,300) for the “responsible person,” in this case the hospital’s director.

The Sveti Duh hospital was one of four in Zagreb that refused to terminate Mirela Cavajda’s pregnancy after her unborn child was diagnosed with a brain tumour in her sixth month of the pregnancy.